


She's Home

by queensimmons



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Little to no Will, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, starts out boring before getting intersesting, undercovermarvelgeek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 15:51:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6334978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queensimmons/pseuds/queensimmons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>4,722 hours of isolation, darkness, and depression. That's 4722 hours since someone made the team their morning tea, 4722 hours since everyone was happy, since everyone smiled, since everything felt normal. When Fitzsimmons were lifted out of the rubble, just seeing how frail Simmons was, the team knew this was going to be a long recovery.</p><p>AKA: Me taking over the story and rewriting Jemmas PTSD, Maveth, and recovery story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write this since episode 2 of season 3 premiered but I was super lazy but since I'm on break why not right?  
> follow me on Tumblr!  
> undercovermarvelgeek

 On the Quin-jet ride back to the base, Fitz was scared, nervous, and ecstatic all at the same time. He accomplished what no one thought was possible and brought his best friend back from an alien planet no one knew existed. He smiled at the thought and looked over at her. She was laying across four seats on the opposite side of the plane hooked up to an IV as Daisy sat by her side, stoking her arm and talking to her, though it was obvious Jemma was in a daze.

She was pale, very pale Fitz noticed, and she would try and keep her eyes open but her exhaustion constantly got the best of her. Other times she would try to force a smile only for it to fall just as fast as it appeared. Bobbi would occasionally get up and try to talk to Simmons, ask her questions as a pre-examination but Jemma couldn't respond.

Sometimes she could manage a small grunt or nod but otherwise she was falling asleep. At one point Bobbi reached the conclusion that she was only going to receive bare minimum responses and decided to let Daisy continue to make her comfortable. Fitz wanted to go over to her and he would've but her body was sensitive to temperature. If he crowded her, she might overheat and in her fragile state, that could lead to a stoke and nobody wanted to be responsible for that. Bobbi must have noticed Fitz was staring and possibly talking to himself because she put a reassuring hand on the engineer's shoulder. 

"You did it, Fitz" she smiled. "You brought her back and she's fine". Fitz nodded, he knew what he did and yes, he was proud of himself for it but that didn't ease his worries about her health. 

"Nobody knows what happened to her on that planet" he expressed to the agent. "Who knows what could have happened. What if I didn't find her?", Bobbi took notice of how Fitz began playing with his hands and his breathing got slightly heavier. 

"But you did, and she's here and she's breathing, you did a good thing" Bobbi assured. Again, Fitz nodded. He wished he could just see a good thing as a good thing and not think about the negatives but it was so hard seeing someone close to you struggling and blaming yourself for it.  _I was the one who left the containment open_  Fitz thought. That was his only thought.  _We wouldn't be in this predicament if it wasn't for me._ Fitz continued to stare at the scientist.

* * *

 When they landed, Fitz carried Simmons out of the Quin-jet bridal style as Mack allowed Daisy to lean on him while she tried to walk on her own. Everyone exited the plane and followed Coulson into the medical room. Jemma was laid down first and Daisy sat in a metal chair right next to her. Due to being under staffed, Bobbi attended to Daisy and left the real doctor to examine Simmons, who was wheeled off into an examination room, Fitz right by her side and refusing to leave. Fitz woke up from a tap on his shoulder in the same chair he fell asleep in but Jemma was no longer in the medical wing. Bobbi came into the room in her star wars pajamas and gave a long weary yawn.

"Fitz, it's nearly one in the morning" she sighed. Fitz began to stretch and blink the tiredness away. He looked around the medical wing and noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Simmons?" He asked as he stood up. Bobbi pointed down the hall to one of the rooms they used for interrogations and observations. Without another word he followed her finger and Bobbi wandered in the other direction off to bed. They both had a long, exhausting day and she knew it would probably get worse before it got better.

* * *

**_She was afraid, starving, and could feel her body deteriorating as she hid behind a large rock, panting and attempting to catch her breath. It found her, but how? Jemma examined her arms, nothing there. Her legs, still no, touching every visible aspect of her skin searching for some kind of indication of what was leading the monster to her._**

**_It wasn't until she touched her cheek and a dark liquid appeared on the tip of her fingers did she stop panicking to mask it. The monster smelled blood, smelled fear, sweat and tears. (Which Jemma produced a lot of since landing here) She was terrified but attempted to hid it, to tell herself that the portal will open again eventually . She told herself the team was coming. Fitz, Bobbi, May, Skye, Coulson. They were coming. They had to be, she thought, still out of breath. Suddenly it got silent and the sound in the distance stopped. Immediately, Jemma froze still and her blood ran cold. There was a warm breath coming from right behind her. The scientist didn't know whether to scream, or to cry but she was frozen in fear. Slowly, Simmons reached behind her and pulled out a shard of glass she had found earlier, took a deep breath and allowed her fight or flight response to kick in._ **

* * *

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've done a pretty decent amount of research so I hope from here on out these chapters are pretty accurate descriptions of PTSD, though any medical inaccuracies are my fault.  
> Follow me on Tumblr!  
> undercovermarvelgeek

Simmons had had a rough first night back from the alien planet. She was unable to sleep as her nightmares constantly kept her awake through the night. Once she woke up around the break of dawn, sweating and in fear while clenching a make-shift shiv in her hands. The scientist eyes darted around the room in a frenzy before recognizing the familiar hexagon walls and engineer sitting on the floor. 

_I'm home...._

Is what Simmons would whisper to herself each time she woke up but her voice was never certain. It was always a question but seeing her best friend on the floor made everything feel real again. It was the first time in a long time since Simmons felt  _secure again_.

The biochemist turned to her friend, her  _Fitz_ and released a breath of air she had been holding for far too long and debated on joining him on the floor. She hesitated for a few minutes, her brain wouldn't stop trying to convince her that Fitz wasn't here. This was the enemy sitting beside her and she should eliminate the threat. Simmons twirled the shiv around and around in her hand a few times deciding on it, but at the same time repeating "This is Fitz, I am home" aloud. The engineer began to move a little and Jemma froze. The threat was moving she convinced herself. Somewhere deep inside her mind, a light faint Scottish voice was yelling, screaming for her to remember where she is.

 _Home Jemma, you're home. Surrounded by friends, by your family._ The voice was getting louder and louder and wouldn't stop talking. In frustration, Jemma threw the shiv to the other side of the room and the voice immediately silenced. Another breath of relief exited the scientist and she quickly laid down on Fitz lap who was sleeping peacefully propped against the wall. Even though it was already 6 in the morning, maybe now she could get some sleep.

* * *

 Fitz had woke up slowly after Simmons had her episode but was pleasantly surprised by a weight on his thighs. His best friend was soundly sleeping on his lap, having pulled the blanket over the both of them and everything. He smiled and cautiously stoked her hair, being careful to not awake her. She flinched just a little but it was enough to let Fitz know she was awake, or at least not fully asleep. He wanted to talk to her, about anything but Bobbi and the other doctor had warned Fitz multiple times about how hard sleep was to achieve in her state. So Fitz stopped caressing her hair and instead rested his hand on Jemma's shoulder. 

"I'm already awake, Fitz" Simmons said, her voice quiet and slightly hoarse. Fitz took that as a sign to keep stoking her hair so he did. Simmons just stared straight in front of her at the wall patterns, counting them to distract herself. She then moved her own hand on top of Fitz leg and closed her eyes. He _felt_ like he was here. It  _looked_ he was here and the smell of chemicals wasn't one to be forgotten easily. But despite all of this, Jemma still wasn't sure and felt the need to ask.

"Am I really here Fitz?" she asked, tears slightly whelming in her eyes. Fitz wasn't taken aback by the question though. He remembered how it was waking up from his coma and not knowing if Simmons was real or not (Turns out she wasn't) and understood that she had been gone for six months enduring only god knows what. He continued to stoke her hair.

"Yeah Jemma, You're home" he assured. He felt her shift and take a deep breath. "You know that right? Simmons?" he asked. Jemma stayed still and continued to take deep breaths before sitting up. It looked like she might be having a small panic attack. Fitz readjusted his position and looked into Jemma's unfocused hazel eyes. She didn't look like she was on Earth, she looked as if she was seeing something but it was only Fitz and a bed in the room. Fitz glanced around the room just to be sure it was only them and it was. The engineer took one of Jemma's hands in his and she jerked away.

"Jemma, look at me. Focus on me" Fitz lifted his two fingers and dragged them from Simmons eyes to his. Jemma lifted her head and tried to focus on him, she really tried but all that showed through her eyes was fear and she kept shaking. All sound from the outside world drowned out and she looked at Fitz who was trying to talk to her. Or to somebody. Fitz kept touching his ear piece that he fell asleep wearing. His eyes were focused on her but he was nodding and shaking his head. Now it was clear he was talking to someone else. Jemma could make out basic words he was saying like 'Yeah' and 'No' otherwise she couldn't tell what he was saying. A light appeared right behind Fitz and someone still in their Star Wars pajamas had entered the room with a blue syringe. Jemma backed up against the bed when Bobbi got closer and knelt down beside her. Simmons furrowed her eyebrows and kept shaking her head. The smaller woman tried to fight, pushing her arms around then holding them in front of her as an attempt to keep everyone away. Fitz had to grab her wrists and hold them down to prevent her from hurting herself.

 _Where's the shiv? I need the weapon, I need to get away,_ Jemma's mind kept telling her but she couldn't remember what had happened to it. 

She now had two people in front of her getting closer and closer attempting to talk to her but the world washed out. In reality, Bobbi and Fitz were trying to calm Jemma down before resorting to sedation.

"Simmons, can you hear us?" Bobbi asked readying the sedative. Just by the look in her eyes, Bobbi knew Jemma had to be seeing something different than her two friends trying to talk to her. She swallowed hard as she looked at her friend, who was truly terrified. It's been years since Morse had saw this look, if she had ever seen it before.

"I've been trying to talk to her for nearly three minutes already, I think she's imagining something. She's been unresponsive to everything I was saying" Fitz explained. Bobbi nodded.

"Simmons, you're home. We're your friends" the field agent tried one more time to snap Simmons out of her imagination. Nothing changed. Fitz nodded at Bobbi as an okay to inject the tranquilizer into his friends arm.  

"You'll only be out for a second" Fitz lied (she would be out for a few hours at most) but all Jemma could hear was muffled sounds that turned into an eerie silence. All she could see was blue, sand, and darkness. The monster and its _guides? minions?_ were closer than they've ever been, holding something sharp and stabbing the scientist in her arm with it as everything began to go dark, her breathing slowed, and the vision melted into complete darkness. 

* * *

 

Later that morning Jemma woke up in her room by herself, sightly confused as to what had happened. A familiar blond woman knocked and peeked into Simmons room holding a bath robe, towel, and some clothes. Jemma forced a weak smile at her.

"I thought you might want to shower, just to get back into the feel of things" Bobbi said handing the clothes over. Jemma sat up, groggy but taking them from her hands. She nodded but Bobbi could see the slight confusion behind her eyes.

"The locker room is just down the hall to your left, I have a meeting but Fitz will be back when were done" Bobbi said. Jemma was just glad she didn't have to ask where the showers were.  _I guess I have been gone that long._ Jemma tried to push the thoughts back and thanked her friend. 

And as the team was discussing Jemma's condition, she went and took that long awaited and very well deserved shower, despite her new found sensitivity to light, sound, and touch, for the first time in a long time, Jemma felt peace of mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and this story isn't over :) I hope you leave a comment and check back in for the next chapter!


End file.
